Apple's market capitalization is expected to reach US$1 trillion by 2014, reported CNN citing market researcher Piper Jaffray on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley in a recent report also predicted Apple's market capitalization will likely achieve the landmark figure. For comparison, Korea's entire trade volume was $1.08 trillion last year.

No company has yet recorded a market capitalization of $1 trillion in the U.S. The biggest market cap in the history of the U.S. stock market was $619 billion reached by Microsoft in 1999.

As of Tuesday, Apple's stock price was $629.32 and its market cap $586.7 billion, so another $413.3 billion are needed to reach the milestone.

The company's profit figures back up the stock price. Apple posted a whopping net profit of $13 billion in the fourth quarter of last year, chiefly because the iPhone 4S sold like hot cakes around the world. Orders for its latest tablet computer, the new iPad released on March 16, are also flooding in. Presently, Apple has over $100 billion in spare cash.